Topical wound treatment pharmaceutical compositions are, of course, well known. They can include wound debriders, wound cleaners, wound healing agents, anti-microbials, anti-fungals, skin conditioning agents, etc. Regardless of the specific use, common to pharmaceutically satisfactory topical actives is the fact they all have in common that they must stay on the skin surface for a sufficient period of time to allow the active to perform; they must not irritate the skin; and, they must be perceived by the patient as pharmaceutically elegant or the patient will simply not use them. Pharmaceutically elegant, as those skilled in the art know, means the feel to the patient is good.
For topicals used in hospitals, they must be easy to apply by nurses and technicians, especially for ulcerated wounds they must not tear skin, and the feel must not be too greasy.
For many topicals, especially those used to apply to skin wounds, the most satisfactory administration format is a spray-on. Advantages of a spray-on are many. First, the applying nurse or technician does not have to touch the wound. Secondly, avoiding wound contact avoids contamination. Third, further wound disturbance is avoided. For these reasons, the spray-on technique is highly preferred.
The use of a spray-on technique with many topicals is however problematic for several reasons. Amongst those reasons is the fact that normally a spray-on liquid is thin and can drip from the wound site especially if the wound is on an extremity and in a vertical position. Also, where aerosols are employed, as opposed to simply air pump systems, the aerosol mist is not easily directed to the wound which can then cause considerable overspray. In this respect, spray-on administration has at least one disadvantage over ointment dispensed from a tube that can be placed directly into the wound. Placement is not a problem. There is therefore a need existing for a product line of topically-active wound treatment compositions that can be sprayed and precisely directly onto the wound and that will stay in place in the wound bed, without dripping out and that will uniformly distribute a wound debrider.
Accordingly, it is a primary objective of this invention to provide a topical pharmaceutical composition for use on skin wounds by topically spraying on the wound site with the composition having the characteristic that it can be spray directed accurately, is thin enough to create a mist or foam, and yet will not drip from the wound site even if the wound, for example, on an extremity is in a vertical position.
The method of accomplishing this and other objectives of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention which follows hereinafter.